Amazing how powerful of a motivator fear could be.
The two men made it out of the bowling alley faster than they ever moved on the football field. They also ran farther than they ever did in there, and they both were used to run a lot, since, you know, it was football and all.
This time, however, they were not running in direction to the opposing team's quarterback to tackle him but were running away from a Japanese girl with half their size who could shoot lightnings and fireballs.
That could have sounded absurd thirty years ago, but now it was exactly what had happened, and a lot of people could have probably believed them, if they were not so busy running to stop and tell anyone what happened.
"I-I..." One of them, the slightly taller one, with messy blond heir and a skin full of freckles and a nose that looked like it had been flattened by a blow to the face, said as they both had stopped after running for God-knows-how-long, between pants as he and his friend were both recovering their breath. "I think... we are safe... she didn't... didn't follow us..."
"You sure?" The other one asked. He had a very short hair, so much that it was nearly as if his head was shaved. His skin was of the color of milky chocolate, and he was nearly as big as the other guy. He was a little bit shorter, but the muscles of his arms were slightly bigger. It was clear that he pressed more irons then his blonde friend at the gym. "I heard that some mages know spells that can make them invisible, at least to normal people. She could be following us right now and we could not know."
"Man, I hope that's not the case..." The blonde guy said, "Did you saw what she did to Newman and the others?"
"Yeah! She got Kevin right on the face with that fireball!" The black guy said, "I swear I could smell his hair frying!"
"Dude, I think his whole face fried! I don't think he is going to be voted as 'best looking guy' on the yearbook anymore..."
They both panted, and then the black guy said:
"But... that was so cool."
The blonde guy looked at him as if he was crazy.
"What? It was!" The black guy said, "Come on, she shot a lightning from a piece of paper! Don't you think that was even slightly cool?"
"Well, I would have if she had not electrocuted our team captain!" The blonde guy said, "Seriously, Toby, that obsession of yours with mages scares me sometimes!"
"Hey, I can't help they are so cool!" The black guy, Toby, said to his friend. "Man, I so wish I could do half of those things. Can you imagine me shooting fireballs from my fingertips?"
"Right now, all I can imagine is both of us having our skins melted off our bodies while that crazy Japanese witch chants some weird mumbo-jumbo at us while waving a wand." The blonde guy said, and Toby told him that few mages actually used wands, and that they usually were mystic codes that they fabricated themselves. This was a proof that he had, indeed, made his research about mages. As far as a common person could research mages nowadays.
"Think we should have tried to fight her?" Toby asked, "I heard of guys who managed to defeat mages, even though they themselves say that normal folks could never hope to win against them. I mean, we are both twice her size, do you think we could have pinned her down, Kenn?"
"Look, I don't know, okay?" The blonde guy, Keen, said to Toby. "When I saw those fireballs, the only thing I could think about was running. Man, what were the chances one of the girls Newman would try to hint on turning out to be a mage?"
"Well, if you think about it, they are actually pretty good." Toby said, "That bastard tries hinting on anything that has breasts and a pulse."
"Well, not after tonight, he won't." Kenn said, and there was silence in between the two of them. Before both looked around and saw that they had managed to run all the way to the other side of town. They were quite far from both their homes.
Actually, that neighborhood they were in looked pretty shady.
"Toby, think you can get us a ride home?" Kenn asked, and Toby looked at him.
"What, because I am black you think I know some guy around here who might give us a lift instead of mugging us?"
"What? No! because you have the Uber app on your phone and I don't!"
"Oh... right." Toby said, and he was about to pull his phone from his pocket, when he looked to the sides and saw some guys dressed in all black on a corner. Suddenly he was weary of pulling out anything that looked expensive and holding it in plain sight.
"But, let's go to that alley there first." Toby said, and the two friends both went to the alley that the black guy pointed, so they could have a semblance of safety as they called for the ride that could help them.
However, going into a dark alley on a neighborhood like that proved not to have been the smartest decision. They walked right into something they were not supposed to.
"Do you realized what you are getting yourself into!?" They both could hear a voice saying as soon as they walked into the alley. "Do you know what will happen to you and to those poor sods that the bald guy convinced to be part of it!? The Association is going to kill you!"
"Only if we lose." Said a second voice, as the two friends looked in there, and they soon were seeing themselves before an interesting scene, as two people were discussing into the alley they just entered.
They were seeing two people in there. One of them was a slender man wearing flashy clothes of purple and blue coloration. He wore polished black shoes that sparkled on the light of the only lightbulb shinning above him, letting everyone see that he had hair of an immaculate white. However, despite his white hair, the man certainly didn't look old. To tell the truth, his looks were so good that he might as well be a model.
He certainly contrasted with the woman with dark hair standing before him, who was wearing matching pair of red jacket and skirt, and looked at the man as she jammed a finger on his chest.
"You..." The woman said, "Are a great idiot! You know that!? You will get yourself killed only so you can become more famous than you already are! Don't you put yourself in enough danger already!? Don't you risk your life way more than it would be considered of good sense!?"
The man, on his end, looked at her calmly, and he smiled.
"Darling, it is not risking your life if you know what you are doing."
"Well, you clearly don't!" The girl screeched back. "You clearly have no idea of what you are doing, otherwise you would not have accepted Ulanov's offer! You would never accept to get involved into something like that! People have died on those things!"
Toby and Kenn stood right where they were, not moving an inch as they looked at what was happening ahead of them. They were at a certain distance, but they could clearly see that the girl was starting to shake as she looked at the taller man.
"What will happen to our clan if you die?" She finally said, and the man looked at her.
"Jilin..." The man said, placing his hand on her chin gently. "My sweet, sweet sister."
She looked up at her brother.
"You seem to be forgetting who I am, dear. I am the guy who defeated Dc. Heartless in a magical combat with the entire of the United States' East Coast as my witnesses. You saw how he teleported away with his tail between his legs, don't you? That's how good I am."
As the man spoke that, Toby's eyes widened, as he looked the man's way.
"No way..."
"So, don't worry so much, will yah?" The man said to his little sister, wiping her tears away "I will be fine, and I will come out on top. They agreed to give me a Saber. That, combined with my skills, makes my victory guaranteed. After all, I am no other than-"
"Killian Savoy!"
The sudden voice made brother and sister both look, as Toby walked forward to them.
"You are Killian Savoy, aren't you!?" Toby asked, and Kenn was coming right behind him.
"Dude, what are you doing!?" Kenn asked, and Toby then said:
"Dude, it's him! It's Killian Savoy, of the Savoy clan! The star of Path of the Lonely Mage! That reality show where he travels across the continent looking for other mages and supernatural dangers to face and test his magic skills!"
Kenn was looking at Toby, and then at the guy and the girl who was his sister.
"You two..." Jilin said, and she looked ready to do something, the circuits on her arm lighting up as she got ready to...
"Leave this to me." The white-haired man said to his sister, "I will deal with them. You just go back to our state, and remember, stay out of the city until I say it is safe for you to come. I don't want anything happening to you."
He said it to her with such seriousness that she would have listened to him even if he was not the head of their clan. She did nod and told him to "come back alive" and she departed, pulling the hood of her jacket over her head and departed into the night.
The man, whose name was Killian Savoy, smiled at his little sister. She had a lot of future, and she would go far. Even if he himself could not tell exactly where or how far she'd go.
Oh, well. Time to deal with the small problem that just arose.
"So, I guess I have two fans in here, huh?" Killian said, and he walked to the two of them. He was raising his hand, getting ready to make a little trick that would solve this problem in no time. However, Tony, upon seeing the lifted hand, mistook what it meant.
"Yes, Mr. Savoy!" Toby said, reaching out with both of his hands and taking Savoy's in a firm handshake. "I've watched all of the episodes of your show, and I have to say that I am a great fan of yours!"
Savoy, on his end, would have reacted to someone touching him without his permission. However, he would not this time for, in the second that Toby's hands touched his', one of his eyes changed from it's usual pale-blue coloration to a deep purple, as images flashed before his eyes, as tenuous as smoke, but as clear as a stream of light cutting through darkness.
Images of the man holding his hand.
Of himself.
Of battle.
Of blood.
Of clashing blades and thundering skies.
And of glory.
It lasted a single second, and it ended as soon as Savoy blinked, his eye now back to the same color as the other one, as he looked at the man holding his hand with a big smile on his face, as he said:
"It is a great honor to meet you, sir."
Soon, Savoy opened a smile of his own.
"Well, I can say the same." He said, as he now started shaking Toby's hand back, as the younger man was unaware of what just happened. "It is always good for me to meet my fans. But, I have to say, I didn't expected to meet anyone who could know me in a place like this. What are you doing here, young man?"
"Oh, we were running." Toby said to him, and he explained what just transpired to Savoy, who nodded as he heard it.
"Well, that looks like quite the encounter." Savoy said to the two of them. "But, I have to say, your friends kind of deserved it, after how you treated that poor lady."
Toby looked down.
"Yeah, we were kind of just going along with Newman. His dad is a senator in this area, and we kind of needed to do everything he say. Honestly, I never liked him."
"No one did." Kenn said, suddenly getting into the conversation. "Look, Mr. Savoy, thank you for not killing us like that other mage tried, but we really gotta go now. Oh, and sorry for interrupting your conversation with that girl."
Kenn was steering Toby away, and they were about to leave, when both felt hands on their shoulders, squeezing very slightly.
"Hey, hey, hey. You two, what's the rush?" Savoy asked to the two. "Come, no need to be in such a rush. You look pretty nervous. Well, it is comprehensible, as a meeting with a mage can be quite scary if it is not a friendly and chill mage like me." He said, looking at the two of them as he pulled them both closer.
"You know what? Why don't I make you two feel better after such a stressful situation?" He said to them. "Why don't you two come with me to enjoy a night in town? My treat? After all, I can't let you walk away from this thinking the worst of my community, can I?"
Kenn was not sure if he wanted to be around another mage after what he just witnessed. However, Toby was all in for it. He was, after all, a great fan of this specific mage.
"Wow, a night in town with you? That... would be a great honor, Mr. Savoy!" Toby said, and Savoy then smiled at him warmly, as he said:
"Please, call me Kil. That's how my friends call me. And I do hope you and I can become friends."
Toby was very happy with this. Kenn, on his end, found the way that this Savoy dude was acting to be quite creepy.
Kenn could not be a fan of the guy like Toby, but he had heard about him alright.
He was a member of a family of mages, the Savoy. A lot about them was a mystery, as it was most things about mages, but it was known that they were native to France, of another place, and apparently were forced out of their territory due to an altercation with another family of mages, and then settled there in America.
And Killian Savoy was the heir of the family, and he became the patriarch after the death of his father. And, soon after taking over as the leader of the clan, he decided to try his luck as one of the mages who became public figures.
Never there had been a reality show of a mage before. It was a bit controversial at first, due to the opinions that a lot people had about mages. However, Path of a Lonely Mage certainly grew in success since its première, and it was still going strong, having become quite popular with mage-admirers like Toby.
Although there had been some scandals about some of the scenes of the show having been staged.
"Well, I must admit, some of the things you saw on TV were a bit exaggerated for ratings." Kil admited as he and the guys were in an expensive club on that area of the city, having martinis as they enjoyed some nice food and some very pretty girls in long dresses sitting with them.
"But, the magecraft you saw in there? That was no trick, nor it was special effects." Kil said to the two of them, "That was all my actual skill, that much I can assure you. And that is not even half of what I can do. I have a lot more spells and rituals up my sleeve, and I plan to use some of them in the upcoming episodes. Seriously, you young men have no idea of what I have in store."
Toby was all over the mage as he continued to explain, and he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as Kenn, who was currently with on arm around each one of the girls who were leaning onto his sides as they made them continue to drink the martinis and played with his blonde hair.
Man, those hostess bars were great!
And that one where Kil brought the two was nice, with a lot of pretty girls and some quality booze for them to drink.
The two friends barely noticed time passing, until Kil said, as he looked at his watch.
"Oh, my, look at the time!" The white-haired man said, "We better get going, right? Will you two boys come with me?"
The two were willing to go with him. Albeit Kenn needed to be pulled out of the middle of the girls, as he was pretty much refusing to leave with all those pretty ladies showering him with attention. As they went out, Toby spoke:
"But, we cannot be out until too late, Kil." Toby said, "My parents will throw a fit if I'm not back home by midnight."
"Well, then they probably already are, considering it is 2:20 in the morning."
"Wait, what!?" Toby said, shocked, and so was Kenn, as both finally looked on their phones, which had been on silent all this time, to confirm that it really was nearly two in the morning.
And that the two of them had nearly fifty missed calls in between the two of them.
"Oh, crap!" Kenn said, "Mom is gonna eat my liver!"
"My parents will kill me!" Toby said, as him and his friend were not trying to figure out a way to go back to their respective houses as fast as humanely possible.
Maybe Kil had a spell to help them with that?
"You know, there is this place where I need to go right now to do an important thing." Kil said to the two of them. "You guys could come with me. See some high-level magecraft with your very own eyes. The kind that you never saw in my show before."
Toby and Kenn looked at the white-haired man.
"Oh, come on! It will be fun!" He said, putting an arm around their shoulders and pulling them close. "I promise you boys that it will be well worth your time. Besides, you guys are already in trouble, aren't you?"
"Yeah, you got a point..." Toby said, and Kenn was staring at his friend. He certainly had some problem with this, however, Kil was quick to tranquilize him and tell him that would be "truly amazing".
"And, if you guys come with me, I promise to not let that girl come anywhere near either of you again." Kil said to the two of them. "I gotta look out after my new friends, after all."
Kil was being insistent, and this eventually led the two friends to decide to go along with him. This was enough to put a smile on Kil's face as he led the two of them with him in direction to that "important thing" that he had to do, saying how nice it would be to have the two of them there to watch.
But, truth was, Kil didn't actually cared about the blonde guy. All he cared about was the one named Toby.
The one who could help him achieve what he wanted. The one whom he could use to achieve what he wanted.
He was the one that truly mattered. After what his Mystic Eye of Predestination showed him, there was no way he would allow that young man to get out of his sight.
He could be the key for him to win the war.
Kil led the two guys in direction to where he needed to go. It should have taken them twenty minutes to arrive there from the hostess club, and they were soon arriving at the very edge of the town. It used to be a commercial center in the past, but the place had long been abandoned as the economy moved closer to the center. Now all that remained were old dilapidated houses and abandoned warehouses.
And it was to one of those warehouses that Kil led Toby and Kenn, and soon Kil opened the door, as he said loudly:
"Rest assure, my friends! The great lonely mage has arrived!"
His voice echoed through the warehouse, and then, a voice came in answer:
"Savoy! You are late!"
This voice sounded strange. It sounded guttural and animalistic. It certainly didn't sound human. It nearly sounded like some kind of creature doing their best to mimic human speech.
"You were supposed to have arrived here one hour ago to help us to prepare, you idiot!" The voice said, and it came closer, "Did you got distracted while going out on the street? I swear that you- Who is this!?"
The owner of the voice said as they came close enough to see Toby and Kenn. This meant that Toby and Kenn also saw the one who was talking.
And they both nearly turned around and ran out of there on the spot.
"L-lion!" Kenn said, as he and Toby clung to each other as the great feline looked at the two of them with yellow feline eyes. It was big and strong. Actually, it was twice as big as any normal lion that one might expect to see on the zoo. It was muscular and it was wearing a harness, which had many small compartments with pockets in it.
"Who are you two!?" The lion growled at the two, shocking them with the revelation that is was capable of talking. "Savoy, who are those two!? Why have you brought them here!?"
"This is Toby, the other one is his friend Kenn." Killian said as he gestured to the two young men. "They are my new friends, and I brought them with me to watch the ritual."
"You brought civilians here!?" The lion demanded, nearly roaring. "Are you kidding me, Savoy!? Have you finally lost the little mind you had left!?"
As the lion spoke, more figures walked closer to them from the shadows, revealing themselves to Toby and Kenn one by one.
The first one was a girl. One who should be around their age. She was dressed all in black, and she had black hair with purple and white bangs in it. She was wearing dark makeup and purple lipstick, and she had piercings on her eyebrow and on her mouth, and she was staring at the two of them with a look that nearly seemed angry. She was wearing a spiked collar around her neck, and she looked like your stereotypical goth girl, complete with tattoos on both her shoulders that looked like skulls covered in runes.
Next to her came a man. A sickly man. He was wearing a robe that covered his body, and it was possible to see his arms and legs, both so thing that it was as if they were devoid of muscle. He was looking at them with deep eyes that were partially hid by his messy black hair. He was walking with the help of an IV drip, which was constantly feeding something red and glowing right into his vein. His breathing was heavy, and it somehow indicated that he not only looked sickly but was actually and truly sick with something. So much that the it made the two of them wonder why he was in there instead of lying in a hospital bed.
Next to him stood a little boy. He should not be older than ten, and yet he was looking at the two of them with eyes that denoted maturity and intelligence way above what one would expect. Not to mention the arrogance of that little boy with blonde hair as he eyed the two of them as if he was a prince and they both were peasants. The boy certainly looked like a prince with that fine-looking suit of crimson coloration that he was wearing as he looked the two young men with spite, as if their mere presence in there was a bother to him.
"Savoy, I hope you have an explanation for this." The boy said, with a tone that was just as arrogant-sounding and condescending as his looks. Kil once more explained that they were two new friends that he made while on the town, and that he has brought them both so they could watch what they were doing.
"What we are doing here is not to be watched." The boy said, "You should have dealt with the two of them instead of bringing them here, you showbiz clown."
Tony and Kenn tensed and shared a look at the way the boy said that Kil should have "dealt with them". And Kenn could not help but notice that the lion was licking his lips while looking at them.
Kil, on his end, only laughed.
"What for?" The white-haired man said, "Kid, the secrecy of magecraft went capuche a long time ago! There is no more need to silence witnesses nowadays."
"Well, there is also no need to bring civilians into our business!" The sickly-looking man said to Savoy, "They have nothing to do in here! We should just erase their memories and send them on their way!"
As the man finished saying that, he suddenly went down on a loud coughing fit, one so strong that it seemed the man was nearly about to cough out his own lungs.
That guy really should be on the hospital right now.
"Oh, give it a rest, Valentino." Kil said to him, "Juts take a chill pill, will yah? At this rate, you are going to die before the war even begins."
"He has a point though, you know?" Said another voice, and everyone looked at two more figures made their way to Kenn and Toby.
The first one was a man with brown hair and a very pale skin. So pale that he nearly looked like a corpse. He was looking at the two through the shades of his glasses, stepping closer to the two as they could see the fine dark suit he was wearing, many rings on his hand as he walked closer with his cane, and the fine and beautifully polished shoes he was wearing. This guy seemed like trouble. There was just something about his aura that inspired uneasiness. However, Toby and Kenn barely gave the guy any attention at all, as both were too focused on the person coming right by his side.
She was the hottest woman either of them had ever saw on their lives. She had long flowing dark hair, deep sun-tanned skin, a sculptural body that would put any model of the world to shame, and a face so perfect that it was almost scary. She was wearing a plain white dress made of cloth as she made her way to them, with a golden collar with huge gems, and she had other bejeweled bracelets and rings all over her arms. Toby and Kenn could not help but stare at her as she came closer, both seeming to have forgotten about everything else in the world as they could only look at this beautiful lady who was walking with them and flashing the most beautiful smile either of them had ever seen on their whole lives.
"As much as the supernatural may have lost its secrecy, it is important to safeguard the little of it that remains." The man on suit and shades said as he looked at Savoy. "We should not allow for what we are doing here to be seen by the eyes of those to whom it doesn't concern. That's why I was categorical about not letting your tv crew come here."
"Yeah, you made that abundantly clear already, Ulanov." Kil said to him, and he sighed "It is too bad. Something like that would have been a great special for my show. I bet it would break all rating records..."
"You are a disgrace, Savoy." The lion growled at him, and Kil said something back at him, but Toby and Kenn didn't heard it. They could hardly hear anything as they were too busy looking at the pretty lady by the side of the suited man. Especially at her breasts.
"They are real." The woman's voice cut through the mental numbness of the two and caused them to look at her in surprise. "No implants. It is all me." She explained to the two. "I can let you touch to check, if you want."
The two literally lost all words as they heard that, both opening and closing their mouths like fishes as the only thing that came out of their mouths was unintelligible sounds. This was enough to make Kil laugh, while the rest of the people present on the room looked at them with raised eyebrows and expressions that nearly seemed to be of annoyance.
That was when the lady said:
"I like them both. They are funny, and they might be useful to me. I could use two manservants to file my nails and massage my feet. I particularly like the one with short hair."
She was smirking as she said that, and Toby blushed hard as he noticed that she was eyeing him as she said those words.
"Let them stay, will yah, sadeek?" She said, looking at the man standing by her side. The man looked at her for a few moments, before sighing.
"If you say so, Caster. You two can stay, just stay out of the way, if you two interfere with this ritual I am going to rip your inwards out and feed it to the cockroaches." He said to Toby and Kenn, who flinched, as they had the distinct feeling that this was not an empty threat. The man then checked his watch. "It is almost time, let's finish this up and then do this. Everyone, get in position."
"What? In position for what?" Toby asked, looking as the others walked back to the back of the warehouse. Kil stayed behind, to explain to the two.
"The ritual." The mage with white hair said to the two, showing them the back of his right hand, where there was a tattoo-like mark in a bright red coloration. It looked like a rose, complete with the head with it's blooming petals, leaves on the sides, and a thorny stalk, all of it stylized to make it look like a very fancy tattoo. "This is the whole reason why we are here."
"And you did a tattoo only for that?" Kenn asked and Kill laughed.
"Oh, this? This is not a tattoo." He said to them. "Those are my Commands. Now, would you boys like to come and watch? It will be quite the show!"
Well, they were already there, weren't they? The two went with Kil to the rest of the people (and the lion) on the back of the warehouse, where it seemed that everything had been prepared. The first thing that Kenn and Toby noticed were the five magic circles drawn on the ground with something red.
"It is salt with silver and iron powder." Kil said to the two as they looked at the circles. "Drenched in wolf blood. We made it to be a perfect conduit for magical energy. Courtesy of the one who speaks to you."
Killian Savoy seemed to take a lot of pride on what he just said, and this caused visible annoyance to the lion, who rolled his eyes as he heard the man speak like that. Meanwhile, the frail-looking man in a robe came carrying a box. He nearly stumbled, having a coughing fit, while the goth girl rushed to help him and steady both himself and the box.
"Dad, you sure you're okay?" She asked, and the man coughed a bit more, before recovering his breath.
"I'm fine, Celine." The man said to his daughter. "I can still carry on." He reached out for something inside of his robe and pulled out a green bottle. "I just need to keep going." He said and opened the bottle. A green smoke came out of it, and the man held the bottle close to his nose as he breathed in, taking all the smoke in one breath.
He coughed for a moment, but he steadied himself right after. Suddenly, he looked better. Not much, but he didn't look like he could collapse at any second now.
"Just for a little longer..." The man said, more for himself than for Celine, his daughter, as he took the box from her hands, and opened it, revealing a set of objects inside.
"What are those?" Kenn asked, peeking inside and seeing the collection of objects that seemed to be pretty old. They were a long string, a piece of a broken shield, an ancient silver goblet, and a pair of rings.
"Relics, my friend." Savoy said to the two friends, before talking forward and picking the cup from the chest. "And this one is mine. Brough all the way from Iran, where it was found on the ruins of an old temple on a recently-discovered excavation site. Now, shall we move along?"
As he said that, he gestured to the rest of the team. The boy came forward and picked the pair of rings and walked back with no expression. Next came the lion, and he put his head on the chest and pulled back the long string on his mouth. Finally, the goth girl came forward and picked the one item that was left: the shield fragment.
One by one, they placed the items on the center of their respective circles, and they all got in position right before each one of the circles. Killian in the center, with Celine and the lion in one side, and with the frail man and the boy on the other.
Kenn and Toby noticed that the man's circle was empty, as there was not an item on the center of it like the others.
"It is time." The man in a suit said, as he looked at the scene developing. He had just been looking at his watch as he said that. This prompted Toby and Kenn to look on their cellphones, and they saw that it was exactly 3 a.m. now.
The witching hour.
"Alright!" Killian said, as he stood before the circle that had the cup on the center. He then lifted his right hand, while everyone else followed suit, all of them lifting their right hands, and the lion lifting his right front paw as he sat on his haunches. Each one of them had red markings on the back of their respective hands (or paw) as well.
"Set!" He said, a confident smirk on his face, as he looked forward, the red markings on his hand starting to glow. "Elements, iron and silver, shall be the essence. Stone shall be the foundation for the archduke of pacts."
A soft breeze flowed through the warehouse, ruffling everyone's clothes and hair, including those of the two spectators of this. And the show was just starting for the two.
"And the color to which we pay tribute shall be black!" Kil said. The two watching had no way of knowing, but this line the white-haired man just said was not part of the original script. It was not part of the original plans for this ritual. It was something different.
By saying that one line. By announcing the color of their flag, Killian Savoy completely altered the purpose of the ritual. He made it into something different from what it was supposed to be.
Something much, much bigger...
"Fill!" Savoy said, causing the marks on his hand to light up.
"Fill!" Celine said, causing her own markings to light up.
"Fill!" Her ill father said, without any weakness or coughing, with the same results.
"Fill!" The lion roared, with the markings on his paw lightning up.
"Fill!" The young boy said with a surprisingly powerful voice for someone his age, and the markings on the back of his small hand glowed crimson.
"Repeat five times!" Savoy said, "Each time it is filled, it shatters!"
As he said those words, the five circles started to glow. They emitted the same red shine as the markings on the hands of the five people (or four people and one lion) standing before them, as the rest of the participants on the ritual said their own lines.
"Raise a wall against the coming wind!" Celine said.
"Seal the gates on the four cardinal sides!" Said the frail man.
"Bring fourth the heavenly crown!" The lion said.
"And take the forked road that leads to the kingdom!" Said the boy.
"Hereby, we declare!" Kil continued, "Our will shall forge yours bodies, and your swords shall forge our destiny! If you hear our call and obey our will and reason... ANSWER US!"
The wind grew stronger. The two young man stumbled a bit, while Ulanov and Caster remained completely impassive as they watched.
"We hereby declare!" Celine, her father, the lion and the boy all chorused, "From today, we shall attain and represent all virtues of Heaven! We shall conquer and defeat all sins of Hell!"
"I have a bad feeling about this!" Kenn said as he and Tony looked for support on each other as the wind became even stronger. Even Toby was starting to think that coming there might have been a bad idea.
Killian then spoke the final lines of the ritual:
"Hailing from Heaven! Bound by three absolute orders! Break thy chains and come forth from the circle! Oh, Guardian of the Scales!"
The color of the shine of all the circles changed from red to blue, and then to pure white. Lightnings danced and shoot everywhere coming from them, as the wind now reached gale-force. It was as if there was a storm forming inside the warehouse. The five figures before the circles steadied themselves before them, as to not be blown back by the wind. Tony and Kenn, on the other end, let out cries as the wind took them to the ground. Meanwhile, Ulanov and the woman by his side were completely unaffected, and nearly looked like they were enjoying a pleasant summer breeze.
Then, it was over as suddenly as it had begun. The light and the wind died down. Everything was calmer again. However, as Kenn and Toby both got up from the for and now stood on a sitting position, looking at the scene before them, they could swear that the air felt different.
It felt thicker.
There was smoke now, despite not there had been a fire. The smoke obscured the five circles, and everyone looked at them.
There were figures inside the smoke.
One of the figures, the one on the center circle, the one before Savoy, then swung his blade. The resulting wind cleared out all the smoke, revealing the five figures who Kenn and Toby both knew were not there just thirty seconds ago.
At the center, was a man. His hair was spiky, and completely black. He was wearing fine clothing made of white silky tissue, with a golden breastplate on his chest and guards for his arms and legs, and he had golden shoes with curved tips, and a long white and red cape flailing behind him. He had slightly dark skin, and he opened his green eyes, looking at the man before him, as he stood in there while holding his sword, which was black and green.
On the circle before Celina, which contained the shield fragment, now stood a woman. She looked to be on her early twenties and had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail that went down to her shoulders. She had blue, strong eyes which looked forward with a cold firmness. She was wearing clothes that would be more appropriated for winter, with a thick coat and pants, covered by a light armor on her chest. She carried a circular shield on her hand, and on the other she held a long spear with a golden and black tip.
On the circle of Celina's father, who was doubling over slightly from a sudden soughing fit, now was a crouched man. This man's skin was black as coal, and there was something very unsettling on his appearance. He was wearing a pair of pants made of dark tissue and a mask made of white material that had the look of a skull. His was also wearing a red tissue, which had been tied around his whole left arm. He just stood there, crouching in the center of the circle that as he looked down, nearly as if he was not paying attention to anything.
The figure on the center of the lion's circle, which contained the long string, seemed relaxed. That man with dark, toasted skin and long, reddish-blue hair, was sitting cross-legged on the center of the circle. He was wearing red and black clothing, with many rings on his hands. He looked up, looking at the lion sitting on his haunches before him. His eyes were like the lion's, with an intensity of their own... and there was the fact that those eyes were yellow and with vertical slits like those of a feline or reptile. And the man had a yellow marking on his forehead that nearly looked like a third eye.
Finally, at the center of the boy's circle, stood a young woman. The boy looked at her with evident surprise, as the girl, who could not be older than eighteen or nineteen, just stood there, wearing a metal armor like one would expect from an old knight's movie, but that seemed not to be too heavy. She was holding a pair of maces, which she swung until they were both resting on her shoulders as she looked at the boy. She had blue eyes and blonde hair, like that of the other woman, but her hair had been trimmed until it was very short. She looked at the boy and, seeing his surprise, she could not help but smirk at him, giving him a show of her flashy-white teeth, making it seem like she was growling at him like a dog.
There was a brief silence, before Savoy himself broke it:
"Ha ha! We did! We did it, my friends! I mean, not that I had any doubts, of course!"
Following this, one of the figures, the woman with the spear and shield, walked forward.
"Masters of the Black Faction!" She said, her voice sounding powerful and echoing through the warehouse. "Answering to your summon, we have arrived! In honor of the contract sealed with the power of the Cup of Heaven, we now declare out loyalty to you and your cause! Our weapons and strength are yours to wield!"
The man on the center circle, then smirked.
"Yeah." He said, swinging his sword and then resting the tip of it on the ground. "Just as so said." He looked at Killian as he continued to smirk. "Let's see if you guys are truly worthy of being our Masters."
Despite the ominous way that the man with the black and green sword said those words, Killian Savoy could not bring himself to stop smirking. He did that when he was nervous or excited, he could not stop smiling no matter how much he tried.
Now he was in equal parts nervous and excited.
Because he knew that there was no turning back now. He knew that now he was, to all practical and official effects, a master on the Great Holy Grail War.